IMPORTANCE OF
URINE TO AGRICULTURE
Urine contains
large quantities of nitrogen (mostly as urea), as well as significant
quantities of dissolved phosphates and potassium, the main macro-nutrients required
by plants, with urine having plant macro-nutrient percentages (i.e NPK) of
approximately 11-12 by one study or 15-1-2 by another report, illustrating that
exact composition varies with diet. Undiluted, it can chemically burn the roots
of some plants, but it can be used safely as a source of complementary nitrogen
in carbon-rich compost.
When diluted
with water (at a 1:5 ratio for container-grown annual crops with fresh growing medium
each season, or a 1:8 ratio for more general use it can be applied directly to
soil as a fertilizer. The fertilization effect of urine has been found to be
comparable to that of commercial fertilizers with an equivalent nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium. Urine contains most (94% according to Wolgast of the
NPK nutrients excreted by the human body. Conversely, concentrations of heavy metals
such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, commonly found in solid human waste, are
much lower in urine (though not low enough to qualify for use in organic
agriculture under current EU rules). The more general limitations to using urine
as fertilizer then depend mainly on the potential for buildup of excess
nitrogen (due to the high ratio of that macronutrient), and inorganic salts
such as sodium chloride, which are also part of the wastes excreted by the renal
system. The degree to which these factors impact the effectiveness depends on
the term of use, salinity tolerance of the plant, soil composition, addition of
other fertilizing compounds, and quantity of rainfall or other irrigation.
Urine typically
contains 7% of the nitrogen and more than half the phosphorus and potassium
found in urban waste water flows, while making up less than 1% of the overall volume.
Thus far, source separation, or urine diversion and on-site treatment has been
implemented in South Africa, China and Sweden among other countries with the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided some of the funding implementations.
China reportedly had 685,000 operating source separation toilets spread out
among 17 provinces in 2003.
“Urine
management” is a relatively new way to view closing the cycle of agricultural nutrient
flows and reducing sewage treatment costs and ecological consequences such as eutrophication
resulting from the influx of nutrient rich effluent into aquatic romaine
ecosystems. Proponents of urine as a natural source of agricultural fertilizer
claim the risks to be negligible or acceptable. Their views seem to be backed
by research shown there are more environmental problems when treated and
disposed of compared with when it is used as a resource.
It is unclear whether
source separation, urine diversion, and on-site urine treatment can be made cost
effective; nor whether required behavioral changes would be regarded as
socially acceptable, as the largely successful trials performed in Sweden may
not readily generalized to other industrialized societies. In development
countries the use of whole raw sewage (night soil) has been common throughout
history, yet the application of pure urine to crops is rare. Increasingly there
are calls for urine’s use as a fertilizer /there are considerable differences
between the urine from can is rich in protein and cellulose and goat urine is
better in protein than low urine
RESULT
AND DISCUSSION
EFFECT
OF URINE ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
EFFECT
OF URINE ON SOIL BULK DENSITY (TABLE 1)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
|
2.59
2.86
2.53
2.24
|
High soil bulk density value (2.86) were
obtained under the crop receiving the T2 treatment Goat urine application has a
high significant effect on soil bulk density when compared with the crop receiving
the control treatment, cattle urine and human urine.
Effect
of urine on soil total porosity (Table 2)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
|
16
16.8
13.2
14.6
|
High soil total porousity value (16.8)
were obtained under the crop receiving the T2 treatment. Goat urine application
has a high significant effect on soil total porousity when compared with the crop receiving the control
treatment, cattle urine (13.2), Human urine (14.6).
Effect
of urine on soil hydraulic (Table 3)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
|
0.68
0.44
0.36
0.72
|
High soil hydraulic conductivity value
(0.7) were obtained under the crop receiving the T4 treatment Human urine
application has a high significant effect on soil hydraulic conductivity when compared with the crop receiving the control
treatment, (0.68), goat urine (0.44) and cattle urine (0.36).
Effect
of urine on soil moisture content (Table 4)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
|
0.14
0.14
0.114
0.14
|
High soil moisture content values were
obtained under the crop receiving the T1, T2, and T4,
which means that cattle urine application
has a less significant effect on soil moisture content (0.114) when compared to
the control treatment (0.14), goat urine (0.14) and Human urine (0.14).
3.8 AGRONOMIC DATA
Effect
of urine on grain yield
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
FLSD0.05
|
27.49
27.74
0.00
60.17
0.08
|
Highest grain yield (60.17) of maize was
recorded with T4 treatment which is human urine in 5 split doses.
This might be due to the ready supply of nitrogen and other plant nutrient
element through human urine there fore; there is significant difference among
the treatments.
AGRONOMIC
DATA
Plant
height 2 weeks after planting (table 1)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
FLSD
|
103.1
88.5
50.8
98.6
19.12
|
Their was high significant difference
between the control treatment urine goat urine and human urine compare to
cattle urine
Plant
height 4 weeks after planting (table 2)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
|
129.0
131.2
81.8
133.2
|
Their was high significant difference
between plants receiving the human (T4), compared with plants
receiving cattle urine (T3).
Plant
height 6 weeks after planting (table 3)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
|
128.6
140.8
113.13
110.4
|
Their was high significant difference
between plants receiving goat urine (T2), control (T1),
and cattle urine (T3) compared to plant receiving human urine (T4).
Plant
height 8 weeks after planting (table 4)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
|
120.3
138.9
115.9
142.5
|
There was significant difference between
plants receiving the human urine (T14), goat urine (T2)
and control (T1) compared to plants receiving cattle urine.
3.9 Germination percentage was done 4th
day after planting (table 5)
|
Treatment
|
Mean
|
|
Control
Goat
urine
Cattle
urine
Human
urine
FLSD
0.05
|
100
100
100
100
100
|
There was know significant difference among
the treatments.
VISIUAL
OBSERVATIONS
One and half weeks after planting, the
colour of the plants with cattle urine and goat urine had turned to slightly
purple. After three weeks, the plants with a control treatment were still coloured
while those which had gotten human urine were green and looked healthier. There
was also a slight difference in size, only observable by eye. After another
week, the plant with goat urine had turned to green but those with cattle urine
were growing very slowly compared to those with other treatment.
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